Friday, 19 September 2014

Ratatouille La Gourmet in Johor Bahru

I first met owner Chef Brian when Ratatouille La Gourmet was a hawker stall operating out of a corner coffee shop.

Since then Ratatouille La Gourmet had moved to another kopitiam, and then to this full fledged, spanking new restaurant in upmarket Adda Heights.Inside Ratatouille La Gourmet, the bright, spacious, simply furnished restaurant felt cosy and inviting like an English cottage house.I was glad to meet Brian again and to enjoy his cooking.Today, we tasted Ratatouille La Gourmet's rack of lamb, oxtail and teriyaki cod.

We chatted with Chef Brian after the tasting and found out that Brian is meticulous in choosing his ingredients and insists on making his own sauces. In my simple mind, quality ingredients and sauces, and great execution are about all there is in good Western food :DWe started with French Onion Soup (RM8).Often, how a seemingly simple dish is done at a restaurant can be very telling.Ratatouille's French onion soup has a savoury beefy flavour balanced by the onion's sweet natural juices. The caramelised onions and melted cheese on the toast also added layers to the soup's savouriness. The toast softened by soaking in the soup and the slow boiled onions gave the round bodied soup interesting soft textures.Oxtail Stew RM42.I am a big fan of oxtail.Ratatouille's oxtail was stewed till it was like a soft meaty sponge saturated with beefy sweet savoury flavours from the onions, carrots, collagen and soft tissue/ cartilage from around and inside the cow's tail bone.Brian has insisted on using the whole tail of the cow so that the tail can be cut at the soft joints between the vertebrae. This will allow more soft tissue to be dissolved during the stewing. At average restaurants using machine sawed tails, the tail is often randomly sawed right across and through the bone, and the soft tissue/ cartilage remained inaccessible. Ratatouille's is one of the best oxtail stews that I have tasted.Grilled Lamb Rack RM75.The pan grilled lamb rack was done medium well. The slightly caramelised outside sealed in the subtly gamey juices in the tender meat which lamb lovers crave appreciate. The caramelised outer layer had a lovely subtle crisp. The thin strip of fat round the edges was loaded with rich savoury flavours and aromas which were released with each chew.For this lamb rack, Brian used Australian lamb which is known to be generally more gamey than those from New Zealand. However, Brian prepared the lamb rack in a such way that even lamb novices can appreciate it. If you are new to lamb, Ratatouille would be a good place to try it.

Grilled lamb rack is often eaten with minty sauce but I personally love to eat the lamb just by itself to enjoy the layered natural lamb flavours.Pan Seared Teriyaki Cod RM68.Chef Brian's homemade teriyaki sauce is a terrific blend of savoury and sweet flavours of fish bone and vegetable broth laced with a touch of red wine. This fish dish is made with a large meaty chunk of Chilean sea bass. The white flaky flesh had a mild, rich and buttery flavour. The oily flesh had a moist, tender yet firm texture. Most of Ratatouille La Gourmet's mains are served with ratatouille which is a healthy delicious French chunky vegetable stew of juicy capsicum, egg plant, carrot, onion, zucchini, tomato, and so on. Nice mix of sweet and tangy flavours with soft and crunchy textures. I love Ratatouille La Gourmet's ratatouille.We wrapped up our pleasant lunch with a preview of Ratatouille's Devonshire tea set which will be launched soon. Everything is made in house at Ratatouille including the strawberry jam (only exception is the butter).

I firmly believe that taste is subjective and so, warmly welcome differing viewpoints :-D But, I disapprove negative comments that are anonymous or hide behind fake identities. I feel that that is the same as speaking ill of others behind their backs. I look forward to all your comments :-D Thank you. (Date: 18 Dec 2015)

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